The GOP has *NEVER* been The Fiscally Responsible Party in our Lifeimes

Folks saying the GOP just lost credibility on deficit reduction seem to be forgetting that they paid for two wars of choice and two massively unfunded domestic mandates on a credit card the last time they were in charge. The last two balanced budgets came under Democratic Presidents (Clinton and Johnson) and produced surpluses that were squandered by the Republican administrations that succeeded them.

The highest historical peacetime deficits we ever experienced were under Ronald Reagan giving lie to any mantle of fiscal conservatism he could claim. The last Republican president (HW Bush) to raise taxes to try and balance the budget drew a strong primary challenger for breaking a no new taxes pledge and lost the general as much of his base gravitated to a similar third party candidate in the general. Extreme tax cutters have consistently defeated deficit hawks in GOP congressional primaries for the last two decades.

The last deficit hawk to win a GOP nomination had to put a supply sider on the ticket (Dole-Kemp). They’ve never been credible on this issue. Even before the religious right and more recent fascist takeover on social issues; their consistent economic philosophy has always been to cut taxes for the wealthy and balance what’s left of the budget on the backs of the poor.

It also becomes harder and harder to leave race out of the equation. That’s the only reason I can think of that the mere possibility a black welfare recipient or undocumented immigrants skimming some extra cash off the system conjures far more popular outrage than actual incidents of big corporations and private individuals skimming millions if not billions off the system. For instance, why the CEO of Davita isn’t a household name but the “Cadillac Queen” Reagan denounced is still something your right wing cousin on Facebook rails against. One a very extreme isolated example of a professional con artist who bilked the government thousands of dollars and the other an all too common CEO of a company relying exclusively on the government for his multibillion dollar cash flow.

So let’s not pretend this new monstrosity is any different. It gives prior Democrats too little credit for their fiscal responsibility and Republicans way too little blame for decades of fiscally irresponsible wealth transfers from the middle class to the wealthy.

They are not credible at all, but they have undoubtedly won the politics on this issue. And they’ve successfully drawn the Democrats into a trap in which the Democrats actually take deficit concerns seriously and overcompensate for those concerns in their policies.

A big problem, however, is that a balanced budget is generally a bad and typically very very dumb goal. We shouldn’t pat ourselves on the back for balancing a budget. We should seek to do the most good for the most people and the planet. A badge of “fiscal responsibility” is pointless.

The problem with this tax cut is not the cost, it’s the distribution, the pain it will cause, and the benefits it won’t deliver. Whether it’s “paid for” is not a concern for Republicans and shouldn’t be for Democrats. Moreover, how often have Democrats had political success by trying to point out the hypocrisy of Republicans?

1) The only balanced Nixon budget was 1969 which he inherited from Johnson, similar to the 2001 budget W Bush inherited from Clinton. He then ran large deficits the rest of his administration when he became a born again Keynesian.

2) Yes! That’s my point, but good luck telling your right wing cousin on Facebook that. The biggest welfare recipeients by concentration are in Lilly white WVA and KY, but people still believe those Cadillac queens are roaming Detroit and the South Side. Not to mention the gold plated benefits all those “illegals” get under Democrats (pernicious myths that a majority of GOP voters believe)

Re: Doubleman

I’d be fine with spending the $1.3 trillion they are wasting on tax cuts for the wealthy to set up a viable single payer system even if it busts the budget.

My point is, your average tea party protest circa 2010 was bitching and moaning about ACA which was actually paid for and deficit neutral while those same voters and the politicians they sent to DC through primaries are now insisting on tax cuts we can’t afford today.

The GOP record on deficits and budgets has always been appalling, yet figures in both parties and the media are pretending this latest budget buster is abnormal and proof of how Trump ruined conservatism. It was literally bankrupt on the budget long before he showed up.

Tax cuts for the rich on the backs of everyone else is literally the only thing this fractured movement has been consistent about and is the one thing every member from a pro-choice ‘moderate’ like Collins to a nut job like Cruz can rally behind.

And I agree on your broader point that there’s no point pretending to be Simpson Bowles fans like Obama did for so long when deficits don’t matter. My point is they’ve never mattered to the GOP, so let’s stop pretending the matter to ordinary voters outside the Beltway or that we have to pay for all our spending. At least the deficits we run help ordinary people.

Jconway has succinctly nailed the issue of deficits here. But I have one minor addition. GHWBush went against his “read my lips” pledge to raise taxes and try to mitigate against growing deficits. The Dems had to oppose him for other reasons and he lost. Alas, the lesson learned by GOP pols was that talking like a deficit hawk sounds good to a lot of people but making it law hurts a lot of people, e.g. “keep your hands off of my Medicare.” The GOP punted the social spending cuts down the road by a few years to insulate the incumbent nasties from blame and it may work.

I hope the Dems show up but boycott the vote on the debt cap. Be in the chamber but don’t vote. Let the GOP do it with both chambers’ GOP caucuses voting for it so they own everything about deficit spending.

Great point TBD that the debt ceiling was sacrosanct when Obama was president and irrelevant now that they are in charge. In some ways it’s fitting they ended up with Trump as their avatar. Both talk a good game about managing money but are ultimately con artists waiting for a bailout for their hair brained get rich schemes. Supply side is no different from a failed Trump venture.